Folding carton



prl 3, i951 R. c. EpLswoRTl-i 547528 FOLDING CARTON pril 3, 1951 R. c. ELLswoRTH FOLDING CARTON 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed June 2, 194'7 atented Apr. 3,

y 2,547,628 FOLDING CARTON Ransom C. Ellsworth, Leroy, Ohio, assigner to The Ohio Boxboard Company, Rittinan, Ohio, a corporation of Ohio Application `une 2, 1947, Serial No. 751,653

2 Claims.

This invention relates to folding paperboard cartons, and it has special reference to a folding carton of conventional tray type which has its side and end walls in-folded over the bottom wall when in fiat-folded condition and which may be erected for use by the simple expedient of pulling upwardly and outwardly upon the end walls. In accordance with the invention, however, certain refinements in design and construction are made which result in a better, stronger and more usable carton than has heretofore been possible with the employment of known practice and design. j Folding cartons of the conventional tray type to which the invention relates are ordinarily employed for the packaging vand display of commodities such as baked goods, vegetables, garden produce and the like which deteriorate from eX- posure and repeated handling, and when the cartons are erected and packed with the chosen commodity they are customarily Wrapped with cellophane or other transparent material, thus providing a window package affording a View of the packaged commodity without exposing the -commodity to undesired, and possibly injurious, handling.

,l In the ordinary course of merchandising such packages will be stacked one, upon another in rder to conserve counter and shelf space, and it has been found that when thus stacked the walls of the trays have a tendency to buckle or collapse, especially when the trays contain relatively heavy commodities, or the trays will have a tendency to slip inside one another, thus detracting from the appearance of the counter or shelf display and possibly causing injury to the goods packaged. Y

It has heretofore Vbeen proposed to furnish the top edges of the side and end walls of a tray of the type under consideration with inwardly extending flanges which may be interlocked at the tray corners when the tray is erected for use, thus strengthening the corners and providing surfaces which will afford better stacking facilities, and such trays are known in the art.

l"The blanks for such trays include parts extending from both the side and end wall form-,- ing portions which add to both the width and length of the blanks and consequently reduce the number, of blanks which may be cut from a sheet of stock of a given size. Hence such trays require fer their production an increase in the amount of paperboard necessary for their formation which so increases the cost of production and supplyto the consumer as to make them uneconomical despite the advantages attained.A

The object of the present invention is to provide a folding carton of conventional tray type embodying the interlocking side and end wall flanges, and the advantages attained by the inclusion of such iianges,'but so designedl as not materially to increase the amount of paperboard necessary for its construction.

To this end the invention comprises a folding carton of tray type having interlocking side and end wall flanges, the blank for which is so designed that the material forming both the side and end wall flanges extends longitudinally at the ends, and not laterally at the sides, of the blank, thus resulting in an economy in the Width of the blank and increasing the multiple of blanks which may be cut from a sheet of given width, all as will be explained more fully hereinafter and iinally claimed.

' In the accompanying drawings, in the several figures of which like parts are similarly designated,

Fig. 1 is a plan view of the blank of paperboard material for forming the folding carton of the invention,

Fig. 2 is a top plan view of the blank of Fig. l

partially assembled `in fiat-folded condition,

. Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the carton of the invention showing the side and end wall flanges yat one Vend upstanding and at the other end turned inwardly but not interlocked, and

Fig. 4 is a view similar to Fig. 3 but showing all of the flanges properly interlocked and the carton thus set up in condition for use.

As shown in Fig. 1, the carton blank is of overall rectangular shape, comprising a bottom member I dened by longitudinal and lateral scores or fold lines 2 and 3, respectively, similar side Wall members 4 and end wall members 5, foldable upon the lines 2 and 3, respectively, the side wall members being provided adjacent to their ends with diagonal scores or fold lines S defining foldable triangular portions 'l for attachment to glue flaps 8 extending laterally from the end wall members 5 and oldable with respect thereto upon scores or fold lines 9, all as is now common in folding cartons or trays of this general type.

In accordance with the invention, the end wall members 5 and glue flaps 8 have extending longitudinally therefrom nange members I and II, respectively, capable of being folded inwardly upon scores or fold lines I2 and I3, respectively. The end wall flange members I0 have their lateral edges provided with notches I4 furnishing lateerally oilstanding locking tabs I5, and it will be noted that the depth a of the notches la is substantially equal to, or only slightly greater than, the width b of the side wall flange members Il extending from the glue flaps 8, for a purpose which will appear hereinafter.

As indicated in Fig. 2, the carton is folded to flat form and assembled and secured in a manner customary in relation to cartons of this general type, by first inwardly and downwardly folding the side wall members 4 and the glue flaps 8 with their` flange members Il flat against the adjacent portions of the bottom member I and end wall members 5. Then the triangular portions l' of the side wall members l are folded outwardly and downwardly against underlying portions of the side wall members 4, as indicated at the left of Fig. 2, and spots of adhesive I6 are applied to the triangular portions. Thereafter the folded glue flaps 8 and the underlying end wall members 5 are folded on the fold lines 3 over upon the triangular portions l, as shown at the right of Fig. 2, so that the adhesive I6 will secure the side walls l and the end walls 5 together through the medium of the triangular portions 1 and glue flaps 3.

These assembling operations can all be performed by conventional automatic folding and spot-gluing machinery and may be done at low production cost and expeditiously.

In order to set up the finished flat-folded carton to tray form, which will ordinarily be done by the packer of the commodity to be packaged, all that is required is to pull upwardly and outwardly upon the side wall members it or end wall members 5, as is customary, to adjust the parts to the position shown at the left of Fig. 3. Then, either before or after the chosen commodity has been arranged in the carton, the end and side wall anges l and i l, respectively, will be properly positioned with respect to each other and interlocked by first turning the side wall flanges Il in upon their fold lines E3 and then folding the end wall flanges Ill on their fold lines l2 down upon the side wall flanges, as shown at the right of Fig. 3, whereupon, with the side wall flanges l i supported by the fingers of both of the operators hands, or by the contents of the carton, the operators thumbs will be pressed against portions of the end wall flanges i0 adjacent to the notches lll to cause the locking tabs I to snap beneath the adjacent edges of the flanges Il of the side wall members, as Shown in Fig. 4, it being understood that the operator will work first upon one set of flanges and then upon the other. Obviously, also, automatic machinery could be employed for performing these setting up operations.

With the carton 'thus set up and filled, the package is preferably completed by enclosing the carton in a wrapper of cellophane or other appropriate, usually transparent, material, but, if desired, the wrapper may be dispensed with.

It will be noted, due to the proportions of the depth a of the notches f4 in the end wall flanges I0 and the width b of the side wall flanges Il, that when these flanges are interlocked, as shown in Fig. 4, a strong and immovable cross bracing of both ends of the carton is provided, thereby affording a rigidity of the walls of the carton, especially at the corners, not heretofore attained in cartons of this general character.

Moreover, as will be apparent by reference particularly to Figs. l, 3 and fl, although the side wall flanges Il extend from the edges of the glue 4, flaps 8 longitudinally of the blank, these flanges line up against the side walls 4 when the carton is set up. Thus, although provision is made for side wall flanges adequate to afford the desired rigidity to the carton walls and to furnish proper bearing surfaces for superimposed stacked cartons, the width of the blank is not increased beyond that commonly required to provide an appropriate bottom member with attached, foldable side wall members, and the length is increased only sufficiently to provide the desired end Wall flanges.

Furthermore, this mode of providing the side wall flanges makes possible the production of flanged cartons having side walls of less height throughout the major portion of their length than the height of the end walls, and the fact that the side wall flanges are attached to the end wall glue flaps can, in such case, result in a still further reduction in the width of the blank.

Obviously, the carton may be made in proportions other than those shown by the drawings, this showing being merely representative of the principle of the invention here involved, and various other changes and modifications may be made without departing from the principle of the invention and the scope of the following claims.

What I claim is:

l. A folding carton, having a bottom member, side wall members and end wall members extending upwardly from the sides and ends of said bottom member, flaps extending from the lateral edges of said end wall members and lying along the side wall members adjacent to their ends, side wall flanges forming parts of said flaps and arranged to extend laterally inwardly of the carton in substantially normal offstanding relation to the side walls thereof adjacent to at least one of said end walls, and an end wall flange extending from said one end wall longitudinally inwardly of the carton in substantially normal offstanding relation to said end wall, the inwardly extending body of said ange being shorter than said end wall and being provided with means 'for interlocking engagement with the side wall flanges, said interlocking means including interlocking tabs providing notches spaced from the end edges of the flanges a distance substantially equal to the width of the side wall flanges.

2. A blank for a pre-assembled flat-folding carton the side and end wall members of which are provided with inwardly offstanding top edge flanges, said blank comprising a substantially rectangular piece of relatively rigid foldable ma# terial provided with longitudinal and lateral scores, and appropriate cuts, defining a bottom member having side wall members extendinglaterally therefrom and foldable flat thereagainst. and end wall members extending longitudinally therefrom, glue flaps extending laterally from the lateral edges of said end wall members and foldable flat thereupon, and side wall flanges and end wall flanges extending as elements of coe operating pairs longitudinally from said glue flaps and said end wall members, respectively, and adapted when the carton is in setup condition to extend inwardly of the carton from the upper edges of the side and end walls thereof respectively and substantially normal to said walls, por# tions of said side wall members being appropriately scored for reverse folding upon the side wall members, and said end wall members with their flat-folded flaps being foldable against said fiat-folded side wall members with their flaps Misas t 5 6 overlying said reversely folded portions for attachment thereto, the flanges extending from the REFERENCES CITED end Wan members being provided With locking The following references are of record in the tabs for engagement with the flanges of the side me of this patent: wall members when the carton is in set-up 5 condition, and the said locking tabs providing UNITED STATES PATENTS notches spaced from the end edges of the flanges Number Name Date a distance substantially equal to the width of 1,035,638 Rebel' Aug. 13, 1912 the flanges of the side Wall members, and the 1,731,007 Grafenberger Oct. 8J 1927 iianges of the side Wall members which cooperate 10 2,022,566 Joslin Nov. 26, 1935 with said notches having their end edges in sub- 2,295,515 Hoag Sept. 8, 1942 stantial alignment with the lines of fold between the end Wall members and the glue flaps from which the anges extend.

RANSOM C. ELLSWORTI-I. 15 

